Dating Social Skills

If you want more, you have to give less. That's the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, 17-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it's all thanks to a few simple rules: don't commit, don't be needy, and don't give away your heart.

Andromeda Klein has a few problems of her own. Her hair is kind of horrible. Her partner-in-occultism, Daisy, is dead. Her secret, estranged, much older and forbidden boyfriend-in-theory, has gone AWOL. And her mother has learned how to text. In short, things couldn't get much worse. Until they do. Daisy seems to be attempting to make contact from beyond, books are starting to disappear from the library, and then, strangely and suddenly, Andromeda's tarot readings are beginning to predict events with bizarrely literal accuracy.

Quinn is surrounded by women with broken hearts. Between her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother, Quinn hears nothing but cautionary tales. Then she gets dumped and starts to wonder if there really are no good men. It doesn't help when Quinn discovers that her selfish, womanizing father has stolen more from the women in his life than their hearts. Quinn joins forces with the stepsisters she's never met and sets out to right her father's wrongs.

Sheils is very pleased with her perfectly controlled life (controlling others while she's at it). She's smart, powerful, the student body chair, and she even has a loving boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for? But everything changes when the first-ever interspecies transfer student, a pterodactyl named Pyke, enrolls at her school. There's something about him - something primal - that causes the students to lose control whenever he's around.

Captive's Sound is still standing...but a new evil is rising. Nadia saved the town of Captive's Sound from a fiery apocalypse and vanquished the Sorceress Elizabeth...or so she thought. But a crack into the underworld opened, and a greater evil is breaking through. As Nadia's Steadfast, her boyfriend, Mateo, should make her magic stronger, but the curse that torments him has only intensified. And try as she might, Nadia can't break the cruel spell on her best friend, Verlaine, or stop a mysterious illness that's striking people down one by one.

You are not stupid , you are not dumb, you are not ugly but you need help with one of the most difficult aspects of being a single man namely how to attract and seduce beautiful women. Do you find yourself in situations where you feel like you are charging at 100 mph into a conversation with a beautiful woman only to find yourself out of breath with nothing left to talk about? - Do you find yourself falling into that same old pattern that feels like 'eleven o'clock pub chat' when you do finally muster up the courage to speak to the one girl you have wanted to talk to all evening.

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams - and only her dreams. Because he doesn't exist.

Carolyn Meyer's historical fiction, such as Marie, Dancing, is popular for its unique perspectives. Loving Will Shakespeare is the tale of Agnes Anne Hathaway. There are few details known about the girl who - though eight years his senior - would eventually become wife to the Bard. Meyer's imagining of her story will inspire listeners to learn more.

Justin has two goals for sophomore year: to date Chuck, the hottest boy in school, and to become the king of Cool U, the table in the cafeteria where the "in" crowd sits. Unfortunately, he has the wrong look (short, plump, Brillo-pad curls), he has the wrong interests (Broadway, chorus violin), and he has the wrong friends (Spencer, into Eastern religions, and Mary Ann, who doesn't shave her armpits). And Chuck? Well, he's not gay; he's dating Becky, a girl in chorus with whom Justin is friendly.

Reeling from the aftershocks of "The Hot-Tub Incident," American party girl Tasha jumps at the chance to spend a semester at tweedy Oxford University. Studious control freak Emily, reeling from a romantic incident of her own, decides she'd like a change, too. Thrust into lives as opposite from their own as possible, Tasha and Emily's only hope may lie in each other. Will their combined intelligence be enough to get them through their sophomore year switch?

The more you love, the more you stand to lose….Tessa’s head over heels for Lucien, the son of a French diplomat. Sexy, artistic, and daring, he brings out a completely new side of her. With him, Tessa feels beautiful and exotic. So when Tessa’s strict father forbids her to see Lucien, she’s determined to keep their relationship a secret.

Quinn Avery can handle change. It's just paint, right? Bright, blinding white paint covering her once dazzling red bedroom walls. Quinn knows she shouldn't be angry at her mom - she's doing what she must to sell the house - but still, Quinn is beyond mad, and she doesn't know what to do about it.

Marisol Guzman has deferred college for a year to accomplish two things: She will write a novel and she will fall in love. How hard could that be? She gets her very own apartment (with her high school best friend as roommate) and a waitressing job at a classic Harvard Square coffeehouse. When she enrolls in an adult education class - "How to Write Your First Novel" - there are two big surprises waiting for her.

When self-proclaimed geek girl Bethany Reynolds becomes the newest member of the varsity cheerleading squad, she realizes that there's one thing worse than blending into the lockers: getting noticed. Who knew cheerleading was so hard? Well, at least there's a manual, The Prairie Stone High Varsity Cheerleading Guide. Too bad it doesn't cover any of the really tough questions. Like, how do you maintain some semblance of dignity while wearing an insanely short skirt?

Emily Abbott has always been considered the Girl Most Likely to Be Nice - but lately being nice hasn't done her any good. Her parents have decided to move the family from Chicago back to their hometown of Boston in the middle of Emily's senior year. Only Emily's first real boyfriend, Sean, is in Chicago, and so is her shot at class valedictorian and early admission to the Ivy League. What's a nice girl to do?Then Sean dumps Emily on moving day and her father announces he's staying behind in Chicago "to tie up loose ends," and Emily decides that what a nice girl needs to do is to stop being nice....

Lea Lane has lived in between all her life. Part Hawaiian, part Mainlander. Perpetual new girl at school. Hanging in the shadow of her actress mother’s spotlight. And now: New resident of the prominent West family’s guest cottage. Bracing herself for the embarrassment of being her classmates’ latest charity case, Lea is surprised when she starts becoming friends with Will and Whitney West instead - or in the case of gorgeous, unattainable Will, possibly even more than friends.

School is finally over, and Will Carter has (barely) survived his freshman year. Unfortunately, he quickly learns that the summer break he’s been craving just might break him. When he and his girlfriend, Abby, part ways, Carter can’t help but think his summer is ruined. Things start to look up after he’s unexpectedly cast in an independent film opposite the world’s biggest tween sensation, Hilary Idaho. With Hollywood knocking on his door, Carter gets a taste of the good life. Suddenly, his small town, friends, and family don’t seem as great as they used to.

>In the case of Savanna and Gracie, friendship isn’t based on reason, but on the notion that opposites attract. Savanna is a head-turning, attention-seeking, accessorized one of “Those Girls,” while Gracie’s love of old movies and commitment to protecting the environment put her into the “everyone else” category. It seems as if nothing could come between them until Savanna’s lies and dependence on Gracie as a false alibi start to take a toll on their relationship.

Everyone thinks his or her parents are embarrassing, but Hannah knows she's got them all beat. Her dad made a fortune showcasing photos of pretty girls and his party lifestyle all over the Internet, and her mom was once one of her dad's girlfriends and is now the star of her own website. After getting the wrong kind of attention for way too long, Hannah has mastered the art of staying under the radar...and that's just how she likes it.

It's Saturday night in Santa Barbara and it seems like everyone is headed to the same destination. The reason is simple: To celebrate the end of school. But for eleven different people the motives are bit more complicated - to be noticed, to hook up, to make friends, to numb the pain, to get over an ex, to say goodbye. As each character takes a turn and tells his/her story, the eleven individuals intersect, reconnect, and combine in ways that none of them ever saw coming.